A few notes from the Boss

March 27th

"Really happy to hear that the camp experience left you feeling stronger and more energized -- "mission accomplished", eh?! :-) Also many thanks for your kind comments. It's a privilege to work with committed, mature and considerate athletes like yourself.I want to also let you know that you have innate talent in you. There is a little weight to lose but that will come over time. The first day's meal and the energy lows you felt early on were partially the result of the missing sleep, too, so pay attention to your recovery and rest -- all part of the Big Picture if you want to improve at this game. But your run is very strong -- you have good form, a stride and body type suited to this sport, and innate speed. Just keep thinking "high stride rate" and aim for 96 per leg per minute, roughly.You also carry a fair amount of muscle and your body type means you should be pushing a pretty heavy gear on the bike. There is a lot of latent power there that will develop over time as your fitness improves. Don't worry too much about the next few months' results -- it'll come with continued training. Swim -- again, a great stroke and improving fitness will improve your splits. You're already far ahead of what you were describing to me. Just keep chipping away at the sets and don't hold back on the "hard" or "fast" efforts.

April 1st (a great motivator)

Thanks for your email and update. And Congrats on the race! I consider it a good performance for several reasons: a) it came off the high mileage of the training camp and consistent higher training mileage since you started on your program; b) not sure on weight, but if it was the same 7 lbs heavier as in the other race comparison, you are doing fine. Your swim, if you were still tired from camp/drive, is going to be hit hardest when fatigued -- most non-ex swimmers' swims are. Our weakest link gets hit hardest and first when we are tired.For racing -- always remember that no race is your last race! There is always another one ahead. As with any of life's learning curves, we learn best through "failure" -- which teaches us what not to do, or what to do better. Truly then Failure is not really well understood because it should be viewed as Opportunity -- to learn. To do things differently. To progress.In racing, there can be two kinds of "failure" then -- you discovered one of them already: Doing things too easily. There is also the failure of "going too hard." I use the word in its original sense, so let's examine the truth in this.Racing too easy gets you nothing new, just a nagging suspicion that you blew an opportunity to do better. But when you go "too hard", you can push limits and find out just where they are - and how you respond to them. This teaches us about our mental capacities as well as our physical ones...so really, "going too hard" is by far the better "mistake" to make. The failure to go hard in a race and save up or aces or play it safe is a failure to use the opportunity of what racing gives us: It's a way of breaking out of the ordinary, the everyday, the humdrum world of "normal life" and really letting it rip. So if you're going to "go for it" on race day and really push hard to find those limits - go all the way! Aim to blow up! Find those "limits" because if you keep daring and pushing and striving, the next time you see them it'll be in the rearview mirror!

Today:

Training has not been going so well since my return from racing on Sunday. I've felt very tired and I'm suffering, yes suffering, from a blister on the back of my heel which is causing quite a bit of discomfort with shoes on. I really should have taken the time to put socks on during the run because I have a race coming up in two weeks that I want to perform well at, but this blister needs to go away before running or cycling begin to feel less painful. Lesson learned! School is school and work is work. I'm headed to Austin this weekend, so I'm hoping to get some quality training in while there. A change of scenery seems to help break up the monotony of the same surroundings every day.

Take Care